Well, perhaps not quite that dramatic, but definitely a week for the books!
Actually, I’ll have to back up to the trip to KnoxVegas for Labor Day weekend to give the full effect of my whirlwind week. Anyway, Andy and I went up to visit my family for a few days to get the rest of our stuff and let Andy say goodbye to my family since we are no longer in the same relationship as we have been for 8 years. It was difficult, but it went well.
We get back here on Wednesday and I find messages from old clients and my soon-to-be-new one, so I had to hit the ground running. I was emotionally tired and kinda sickly from the trip, and I was not really in the mood to be pushed, ya know? So, I get everything under control and call Nick the next day to find out what he’s done for the presentation that we have on Saturday, only 2 days away. He’s done nothing. So we proceed to have a little verbal scuffle and hang up. He did the work.
I found myself angrily writing an email to him, so I printed it instead and gave it to him on Friday. We had our first fight! It was a good, fair fight and it has helped us immensely. So ends the Agony part.
Now for the Ecstasy part!
On Saturday, Nick and I gave our little informal presentation and landed the job. WOW! We are doing a logo/ID system for a small dog training facility in Alpharetta. Our first ‘real’ gig as a team! It’s not a huge chunk of money, but it’s pretty big to us and we are thrilled. We were whooping and hollering as we drove away from the client’s house. I’m still not sure it’s all real. It’s just too good to be true! The new American Dream: doing what you love and getting paid for it. Yeah, baby, YEAH!
Here it is, Tuesday, and I’m still all aglow.
On a different note, I met a woman today who epitomizes the powerless little girl syndrome. She started me thinking about feminist things and I realized that I’m much more of a feminist than I’d realized! Heh, imagine that! We were discussing a trade for services: a small website designed by me in exchange for 2 passes to a creativity class that she teaches. She starts off with “Well, my husband doesn’t think I should do this.” (?) I ask her why and she says that he thinks that they should do it themselves so she doesn’t spend money on the design. Keep in mind that this is TRADE we’re talking about here! I point this out and ask her if her husband runs her business, to which she titters, “oh, NO, not really”. It went downhill from there. She is obviously a subbie to her husband, and this comment almost made me laugh out loud, she said: “I have problems voicing my opinions”. No, really? Ya think?
I immediately lost all respect for her. I know we [womyn] should all stick together and all that, but damn, I just can’t respect women like that. I can’t respect anyone like that. I know I’m a hell bitch and all, but I’ve reigned in my outspoken nature as much as I can for this life! Meeting women like this one just makes me feel like I should be even more recalcitrant to make up for the ones who are doormats like her.
Our meeting ended with her giving me disclaimers about how great her husband is in the same breath that she’d given me a list of stuff not to say if I talk to him! I advised her to talk to him herself since I was definitely too aggressive of a woman to deal with a man who is used to ‘nice’ girls like she is. Can’t you just see it?? This insecure asshole of a guy getting in my face about how much Macs suck and how great Front Page is, then ME telling him to get fucked!! Oh, yeah, that’d be a show alright! As much as I’d adore flaying him, I think the Nice Girl would just die.
I met another woman lately that just floored me with her self loathing and below zero self esteem. She only dates those really cute assholey guys who are brazenly misogynistic and like to hit. But, OH, they are so pretty. Oh, yeah, what a PRIZE. Gawd, I’m glad to be a bitchy feminist! At least I can look at myself in the mirror and be empowered enough to run my own life! My lovers may not be models, but they are guaranteed to be of a strong constitution and good sense, cuz I don’t pull any punches and I will NOT take any bullshit. I wish there were more women like me out there. Bitches of the world UNITE!